


Dancing Among Stars

by KellietaGray



Series: The Pooka's Paw [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Adventure, Families of Choice, Traveling, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27548179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KellietaGray/pseuds/KellietaGray
Summary: Lucy was the Heiress of the Heartfilia name and magic. It was her fate to be entwined with the golden keys of the zodiac. But I had a different path. Mom had promised me a quest, a journey through the world to find me a way to make my own path. And a part of me found it so exciting to be free like that. My magic was still entwined with the stars, it was still the Heartfilia magic, but it was not the heiress magic like Lucy. She was born to summon the zodiac in a way that I wasn’t.Emma Heartfilia is the younger sister of Lucy Heartfilia and the youngest daughter of Layla Hearfilia. And this is her story as she finds just where she was meant to be in the world of Earthland.
Relationships: Lucy Heartfilia & OC
Series: The Pooka's Paw [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013688
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1: First Contracts

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this is my try at world building. I love the Fairy Tail universe and I wanted to see what would happen if I took a character and had them travel the lands of Ishgar. I'm having a lot of fun in this sandbox.  
> That being said, this is very, very oc heavy. Like, I make up people and their magic left, right, and center. Seeing as a vast majority of this story is going to be outside of Fiore, it is also understandable that I will not have much of the Fairy Tail cast in this either. And I change little things from cannon here and there. Because I can.  
> I am not the first to world build in this sandbox though. Desna was gracious enough to start that with Bosco and the White Sea guild along with the Pradesh family. They will make a cameo or two in this fic. And I am borrowing some of the ideas about Pregrande and Joya as I continue as well.  
> I don't have an editor.  
> I don't own Fairy Tail.  
> I hope you like this!

“You are doing so well Emma, keep it up!” Mom encouraged as she watched me start to summon my first celestial spirit. Next to her Lucy was nearly jumping in excitement as she too held onto a key. Hers being Aquarius, the golden zodiac key.

The key in my hand was silver, not as strong as her first contract had been, but I didn’t really mind. Mom had already explained this to me. Lucy was the Heiress of the Heartfilia name and magic. It was her fate to be entwined with the golden keys of the zodiac. But I had a different path.

Mom had promised me a quest, a journey through the world to find me a way to make my own path. And a part of me found it so exciting to be free like that. My magic was still entwined with the stars, it was still the Heartfilia magic, but it was not the heiress magic like Lucy. She was born to summon the zodiac in a way that I wasn’t. I don’t think that Lucy really saw what I saw. She was the heiress, there was so much on her shoulders, and she didn’t even know it.

But me, well, Dad didn’t see me as he saw her and Mom. I was the spare really, and I was fine with that. He was growing distant recently anyway and I was glad that the pressure was not on me to do something about that. Instead I could learn more with Mom and Beru about celestial spirits and the magic that I was born with. The magic that was less tuned to the golden keys and more open for something else.

A part of me, even though I was only seven, could feel that. The longing to go out and walk the world. To see everything and to find the keys that were waiting for me. I wanted to be out there in the great wide yonder. But I knew that first I had to grow up a bit and learn to use my magic.

Which was what I was doing right this very moment. There was a silver key in my hand as I put on my serious face and gathered my magic. This was my first attempt at summoning and I knew everything that I needed to know and more. There was no way I was going to mess up with how much I had drilled the lessons Mom and Beru had given me into my head.

Speaking in my childish, seven year old voice, I called out “I am the one who connects this world to that of the celestial spirits! Thou shall answer my calling and pass through the gate! Open, gate of the compass, Pyxis!” As I spoke I poured the magic into the key and felt it as the magic circle formed below me.

My magic then reached out through the key and found that link that opened the door before throwing it open in invitation for the spirit to come through. In a moment as a bell chimed, I felt the very essence of that spirit. It was an arrow in the wind. A spinning dial to find what was being searched for. It was finding the correct path on your way to adventure and the salty air of the sea from the bow of a ship.

It passed through and before me star light compressed into a form. As the light dimmed I could feel my excitement triple to see that it had worked. In front of me was the spirit of the compass. He was quite cute too! A penguin like spirit with deep blue feathers and a happy looking face. On his head was a compass face and his underwings were a softer pink color. He was even taller than me too! But not by much.

“Hello!” I cheered happily as I felt the slight strain on my magic keeping him with me. “My name is Emma Heartfilia, and I was hoping you might be interested in forming a contract with me?” Though not worded as a question, that was exactly what it was. Hope shined through my chocolate eyes as I gazed at him with a smile.

He was quick to squawk in excitement. It was strange, the sound was not words and the inflation of the sounds could be argued on, but I could almost feel the meaning behind it. I could just tell what he meant by it, and that was an affirmative sound!

I almost jumped up and down in excitement, but I was able not to just yet as I grabbed a pad of paper and asked him about availability. Pyxis was not a strong spirit in that it was not one that fought often. If at all. No, he didn’t want to be summoned for fights at all, and I would respect that. Instead he was a guide, for directions and coordinates. Sometimes he wouldn’t mind being called to hang out either. So long as he got Wednesday nights to himself. And that was something that I was more than happy to agree to.

The entire finishing of the contract took literally ten minutes as I kept asking if certain things were alright. After all, up in the spirit world he had to have a life. Even if there were more than one Pyxis out there. There were a few like him that multiple keys which meant multiple spirits under the same constellation.

“Thank you so much Pyxis! I hope to be great friends!” I finished and dismissed him. Mom was clear to tell Lucy and me that the spirits were people and we were to treat them as such, with respect and consideration. He went back to his world and I felt the gate close once more. Just in time too as I felt as if I had used up at least a quarter of my magical reserves. And I was pretty sure that was a lot!

“Oh, that was just wonderful!” Mom said as she sniffled delicately and wiped fake tears from her eyes. “Both my little stars have made their first contracts! Soon enough you will be out there in the world as full-fledged mages!” She continued to gush at us as she pulled me into a hug with my older sister.

I giggled in happiness as Lucy complained “Mom! We are already mages! But one day I’m going to join a guild. Just like you did!” Lucy was almost nine now and we looked so similar, except for her being taller than me. And my hair being a slightly darker shade of gold I suppose.

Turning to me again she said seriously “You will need to work on your magic reserves. Spend as much time as you can with Pyxis now that you are contracted to him, but remember to let him go home if he wants and to send him back when you are getting low on magic. You don’t want to hurt yourself by pushing too far.”

It was something that I had heard her say to Lucy a few times. So I nodded and said “I know Mom! I promise to be careful!”

In our house a promise was not to be taken lightly. As Celestial Spirit Mages we had been taught since we could talk that our word was our bond. A promise made was a promise kept. The stars saw everything. If you went back on your promises, how were the spirits contracted to you supposed to trust that you would hold your end of the contract that you forged with them? For the stability of our magic we had to live our lives understanding that our promises were not something to be taken for granted.

Though, Mom had also been clear in telling us to be weary of promises made to us by other humans. They were not as tightly regarded as ours were and some promises made carelessly were easily broken. She didn’t want us to be hurt like that.

“Layla, did you see the invitation to the Junelle banquet?” A voice called out from the hall. It was the signal that our study time was at an end.

“Yes dear, I put it in the second drawer on the left side of your desk.” Mom answered our dad. He could be very forgetful at times and it was easy to see how the two of them worked together.

“Papa!” Lucy called out as she rushed from the room to hug him around the knees. I was quick on his heels after slipping Pyxis’ key on the new key ring that Mom had given me. It was a small steel loop with an enchantment on it that meant I could put keys on and off of it without having to shift through them or even open it up. It was even tuned to my magic. I hung it off of a small belt on my waist. Lucy had one too that had been given to her when she first started as well.

Rushing after my older sister I too collided softly with our dad’s legs. He chuckled softly and with a smile swung the two of us up into his arms. “There are my three favorite girls. Have you been having fun?” He asked after he loudly kissed each of our heads, including Mom’s.

“Emma got her first key today! It was so exciting! She even summoned it on her first try!” Lucy bragged to our dad about me. And in response I blushed and hid my face in his shoulder, causing both of our parents to laugh lightly.

I couldn’t deny the warmth inside of me at the praise though. I loved my family. And they loved me. The Heartfilia Konzern was a warm home at that point.

…

It was a few weeks later when Mom had me in the library alone. No Lucy who was in her etiquette classes, and no Beru as this was his day off. I could tell this was serious though, even as Pyxis was cuddling up beside me and waiting in anticipation for what we would be learning.

“Remember how I told you Lucy was destined for the zodiac as you were destined for something else?” She asked me softly with a hand running through my loose hair.

I nodded quickly. “Uh-huh, you said that her magic called to them, and mine to something else.” I answered in agreement.

“Exactly so, little star. You feel the pull of adventure. And so, I am trusting you with this book. It has only been read by a few people in all the ages that it has existed, but I can just feel that it was meant for you all along.” Mom said as she placed a big dusty tome in front of me.

It was a leather-bound book, but soft in cover, like a manuscript. There was a flap that wrapped around the back and to the front where a cord sewn into the leather tied it shut after wrapping around the entire thing three more times. But once the flap was opened I could see the silver words embossed on the top of it, though at the time I could not read them.

Smiling at my confused look, she added “This book was written even before Fiore became a kingdom. It tells of the seven legendary keys that were hidden in this world. Keys that you might even discover. In order to read it front and back you will have to learn to read the language it is written in. And that might take some time, but there are a lot of books here that can help you. So good luck.”

I gaped at her as she stood and left at that, but at the same time there was a thrill that rushed through me. Lucy already had her second and third key, mostly because she was a year and a half older than me, but the two were Lyra and Crux. Crux probably could have translated the book in a matter of minutes, but here she was giving me the task of translating it myself. And that was kind of amazing.

Looking to Pyxis we smiled at each other before using his compass to find the books that we might need. I might have been only seven, but I was a smart seven year old! Lucy was smart too, I guess. All that meant that I could do this! I could find out about these legendary keys and maybe even discover what made them so hidden. It was going to be an adventure!

For the next three weeks it was rather hard to get me out of the library when it was my free time. Hours on hours of learning to read the ancient language that the book was written in. Of course, it would probably take at least a year to learn how to read all of it, but I was working on it.

As the fourth week came rolling around Mom had enough and restricted my hours in the library. I pouted, but agreed. It left more time for playing with Lucy. And Pyxis liked playing too. He was the greatest seeker in hide and go seek. So much so that we played around with the rules a lot to make sure we were constantly moving during the game. Lyra was really bad at hiding most of the time. And she could only be called out for three days a months on top of that. 

Life was moving on. And then we were almost kidnapped. Of course Pyxis couldn’t do anything to help me. No more than Lyra or Crux could. But the kidnapper had us outside by a stream and Lucy had Aquarius with her. It wasn’t fun, but we got away. It was quite the scare though. Mom and Dad didn’t let us out of their sight for the next few days and everywhere we went there had to be a servant with us to make sure that we weren’t alone to be taken again.

A few months later and Mom gave me another key, this time one that was supposed to protect me. It was Lupus the great wolf. He was huge. The size of a horse with long green and brown fur. His eyes were even green. But he was also a sweetheart. Like, a cuddle dog.

He agreed to be contracted to me and I learned quickly that he could grow things a bit as well. Not a lot, but enough to be cool. When we found out, Lucy and I had him grow daisies so that we could make each other flower crowns. The nature based wolf did not care as he would snuggle up into my back on days like that.

Where as Pyxus was always excited to be going places, Lupus was happy to just chill with us and watch to make sure everything was fine. A silent protector, and one of few words. Unlike my compass, he could actually form human words but he also only talked when necessary.

Personally, I thought he was the best addition to our family. And he was very protective. I just couldn’t call him on the nights of the full moon. But I didn’t mind that much. That was only at most three nights a month.

I would get one more spirit as a gift from my mother. Just like Lucy, she gave each of us three and Lucy was promised her golden zodiac keys when the time was right. But my final gift from my mom was Columba the dove. Her name was Phact, and she was a bright blue pigeon. Like, sky blue.

What was amazing though was that she was a messenger. Phact could find anyone to deliver messages, but the magic that was so amazing was that she could connect me telepathically to any spirit that I was contracted with or any person she was touching. I thought that was one of the coolest magics in the world.

And it helped that if I just ran the barest tendril of magic through my keys, the four of us could have our own conversation easily. They just made sure I knew that summoning hours were still to be respected with this addition. Phact also took every other Monday off for her to relax and be with her brother and sister Columba spirits. Like with Pyxis she was one of the beings who had multiple keys and spirits tied to the same group of stars.

These were the rose-tinted days of my childhood. Spent learning and having fun. My sister by my side and with my spirits and hers there to support us. I didn’t know at the time, I couldn’t know, just how far we would plummet from that happiness.

### Layla’s Fears

Layla loved her family. Her husband who was awkward and clumsy, and had helped her to build them up from literally nothing. Her little princess, Lucy. The heiress of her magic and soon to be holder of her golden keys. Then there was her little star, Emma. The youngest with so much hope and promise.

There were many things that she just couldn’t tell her family. Bound as she was by her promises and duty. There was hope though, hope that when they found out, they would find it in their hearts to forgive her. That they would not hate her for what she couldn’t say.

It pained her that there was a very real chance that she would never be able to raise the girls to adulthood. But ever since her first contract she had known, her duty to the celestial realm was at times more important than the duties of her heart. It was something that she knew her daughters would need to learn in time as well. The burden of the magic they held.

With every spirit that they contracted, they became even more a subject of the Celestial Plane and the King that ruled over the stars. It might even come to the point where they were more a subject of his rather than a citizen of Fiore, or even Earthland.

Well, Layla didn’t think that would happen with Lucy, but with Emma, it was a definite possibility. The legendary keys that she was telling the youngest of her family to go after might make it difficult to be tethered to a kingdom of mortals. Especially with…

Anyway, it was still something for the far-off future. Right now, Lucy was with her as they looked at the stars and Emma was once more in the library tying to translate the ancient book. Layla had read it once before, cover to cover, when she had first found it among the things from her ancestor Anna Heartfilia.

It predated her ancestor to be sure, but that didn’t make it any less a mystery. Most of it was rambles and nonsense written half formulated ideas that ended. Sometimes it was bits and pieces of a story through history or a great legend from the stars. The only thing that was clear were the seven riddles. Seven riddles to help a mage find the seven legendary keys. Keys that had never been found or contracted. Ones that were said to rival even the golden zodiac keys.

It was a long shot, giving Emma the book and setting her out to find them. There was the largest chance that she would never find them. But at the same time there was the barest of chance that she was the one that the book was meant for. And the book was meant for someone. The first few pages made that clear. The pages that she had taken out with hopes that they would be given to Emma when the time was right. 

Perhaps, perhaps that was why Emma had come into their lives. Layla truly believed that she was destined to be one of the strongest celestial spirit mages in Earthland. Just like her sister. Lucy and Emma had so much untapped potential within them.

Celestial spirit mages were so very rare now a days. And that was because of many reasons. Reasons to worry over her girls. For one thing Celestial magic was targeted by dark guilds all the time. It was because the mages themselves were path openers. They could connect two places, open doorways sealed shut for millennium, power great machines of war.

It was their purity as well. A light mage using celestial magic was purer than the soul of a new born. It had to be that way. Star light literally flowed through their very being each time a gate was opened. The warmth of such a mage was unparalleled. A correctly trained and nurtured celestial spirit mage could rally whole regimes together. And they had before in the past.

It was little wonder that the darker users of this magic were known for giving people bad feelings. The soul that makes connections across the stars is always reaching out. And if that soul is devoid of the warmth that should be there, then others would feel that.

But Layla was getting ahead of herself. Yes, those were problems that both her girls would face as they grew older. But now she had her own problems before her. Problems that she had to face herself.

Her Lucy almost ten years old, and little Emma just eight. No, she couldn’t leave this burden with them when she could do something about it.

Taking Aquarius, Cancer, and Sagittarius with her, Layla followed the summon to the palace. It was time.


	2. Chapter 2: Childhood’s Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Without Layla the Konzern is cold. The sisters know they have to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The adventure begins!

I was eight when Mom got sick. It was a quick thing. Over night she seemed to start to wilt before us. And there was nothing that we could do. As a family we spent as much time with her as we could, but…we all knew that it was only a matter of time.

Lupus would stay with me and cuddle, even as I was beside her bed. Lucy was taking it even harder than I was as she hardly ever left the room that Mom was in unless one of the maids forced her out.

In the end Lucy and I weren’t in the room when we lost her. There was only dad and the doctor. Then there was the funeral and it just all hurt so much. We were surrounded by others. A lot of them were business partners and other Lords and Ladies of high standing, but that wasn’t all of them. Mom had a lot of friends.

There were mages, and even the King of Fiore came with his wife and child to pay his respects for just a moment. That was startling, but we didn’t obsess over it or anything as we tried to find a way to move on. To live without the largest light in our lives.

For the first few weeks, it was almost like the three of us that were left just wandered around the house as usual, or tried to. But at every turn either while with each other or not we would see something, hear something, heck even smell something that would make us remember her and that she was no longer with us. And that left us to crying or sometimes just shutting down for a moment.

Dad had it the worst. After a while, he just locked himself up in his study and refused to come out. It was harder and harder to see him and the house became colder and colder. As Lucy and I started to heal together, he encased his heart in ice and refused to even look at us sometimes.

Not that I didn’t understand. We looked so much like Mom. Our hair and eyes. One of the interesting things that I had found in the book I was still working on reading said that when gifted our magic, the Celestial Spirit King had no qualms about influencing the look of the main families who were born with the ability to summon spirits. Pale hair and curvy figures. It also seemed like it was a female oriented magic too. Male Celestial Spirit Mages were very rare. 

Lucy and me, we were mirrors of Mom, and dad couldn’t handle it for whatever reason. So he pulled away and started to seclude us away from him. It was lonely. Just me and her and the servants in the large mansion. Oppressive was another way to describe it.

We turned to the spirits we were contracted with and even as we got closer as sisters. I think that it was a year later that we came together and started talking about running away. Started plotting is more like. It was just, we were never allowed to be anything but the Heiresses of the man who was once our father. He allowed nothing else.

Our studies took up our time. Politics, manners, accounting, house making. All the things that a woman of the upper class needed to know. But he refused us magic. Of course he would never dare to take our keys away, but he heavily disapproved of them. The good news was that only encouraged the two of us to work on it.

It was three years after, I was eleven years old when I finished the book. It was amazing. The ramblings of a madman or the notes of a scholar who wrote only the interesting bits and left the rest in the original source material.

There were fates from the written stars, riddles of the seven hidden keys Mom wanted me to try and find, legends about the ancient times of the spirits of the celestial realm. It was amazing. And once I finished reading I couldn’t help but dream about the adventures that I might find as I searched the word for the seven keys.

It was the quest of a lifetime. Something that had never happened before. No one had found them. Most people didn’t even know that they existed. But my dreams were vivid. And I promised myself that I would do my best to find them. I had to. Something in me felt the need to.

Not that it really mattered much at the moment. I was just as trapped as my sister in our once warm home. Stuffed into silks and golden cages. Kept separate from anyone else but those who were allowed inside by our father. A song bird caged in an empty room to sing so pretty where no one could hear.

That was what Lupus called me once. When he was with me alone on the grounds and we were star gazing. I never had to tell him just how I felt about everything. With how connected I was with my three spirits they just knew.

Looking up at the stars and tracing the constellations that I could see, I turned to him and I said “I’m only 11. Soon I can leave this place, and I will. But right now I don’t have that power, or the means to just leave.”

He looked at me with his fathomless green eyes and replied “I know. Your soul will not take to this cage for long. Soon you will be free.” It was agreement more than anything. But it also soothed something inside of me. To know that my spirit believed in me like that meant the world to me.

When I was fourteen Lucy and I started to really plan our leave. Lucy was almost sixteen and we had heard the whispers about the matches that he was already choosing for the two of us. And none of them sounded horrible. I had expected better of him.

Mom and he had married for love. They had married and then worked their way up from nothing into the richest power couple of their generation. Their love was the thing of fairy tales for the rich and high class. It should have been enough. He should have let us have a say in our futures, in the love we might find.

But instead he was selling us off as if he was born into the nobility that believed that daughters were only good for exchanging in order to secure alliances. It was a wake-up call. Especially once we learned that the man Lucy was probably going to be stuck with was at least twenty years older than her.

“We can’t stay here.” I whispered to her in the privacy of her room and under the cover of night while most of the servants were at home and sleeping.

“I know.” She whispered back miserably. She took a moment to look longingly at the door. But with a sigh she continued “I’ve been saving up jewel for when we leave. I think I have a good amount. Maybe we can find a better home.”

I tilted my head slightly “Is that what you want? To find a new home?” I asked her carefully.

“I…I think so. I think that I want to be a guild mage. And, well, Fairy Tail seems really interesting. They, they can do whatever they want while they help others. I want that. And I want to get stronger alongside my spirits as well.” She admitted with a blush.

My smile was a little fake as I looked at her again. She wanted a place to settle down, but me, well, I had a dream too. “Well, I think that I want to see the world. Not with a guild or anything, but I have a quest and I want to make it around the world to realize it.” I confessed with only a little bit of guilt.

“Y-you won’t join the guild with me?” She asked with surprise. We had done everything together, it probably only made sense that as the little sister I would be following her to the ends of the world. But I had my own path to follow just as she had hers.

Looking down and away I answered “N-no. Maybe, maybe once I’ve finished my quest I’ll come back and you can convince me. But not before that. I…I just feel like I need to see everything first.” I couldn’t really explain it, but to join a guild right after getting out of this place. It kind of felt like changing cages instead of being free.

Not necessarily in a bad way. The contracts I had with my spirits were their own kind of chains. But they were agreed upon. We respected each other and worked together for improvement and friendship. How we forged the contract itself was a freedom in a way as well. It connected the two parities in a way that allowed for more freedom between them both.

I wanted to be truly free to travel as I needed to. The seven legendary keys could take years or decades to find. If I was to find them I would have to trek around Ishgar. Or even further if I was unlucky. Besides, we both deserved to reach for our dreams.

“But,” Lucy started, not liking what I was saying.

Shaking my head, I said “No, Lucy. You really want to join Fairy Tail, it is your dream. But my dream is different. We will leave together, but then our paths are different. And that’s okay.” I tried to sooth her.

“Emma, you’re my younger sister, I can’t just leave you! You’re my responsibility!” She argued fiercely. The one good thing was that Emma would never doubt that Lucy loved her. And this was just another way to prove it.

“I’m not asking you to turn me out onto the streets. I’m asking you to let me travel. Lucy, I’m fourteen, and you are almost sixteen. We are old enough to make our own choices and you are still too young to be completely responsible for me. I will write you every week and Phact can find you anywhere.” I said gently as I let her bundle me up into a hug.

She didn’t like it, but she ended up agreeing with me. There really wasn’t much that she could have done to have changed my mind anyway, and I highly doubted that she would have liked the amount of traveling that I was preparing myself for.

…

After months of planning, and making sure that everything was just right, we agreed to leave at just the right moment. The night of the new moon just a few weeks away from my fifteenth birthday and knowing that it would take a full day and a half for anyone to notice that we were missing.

We went out the window and I called out Lupus who was happy to run with the two of us on his back. We ran all night long through the lands, following the railroad under the cover of night. I had to stop and rest a few times, and so had Lupus as he was the one who was doing the hard work. But after a week we were towns away from home and we both knew that soon we would have to separate.

Curled up together in a hotel we had rented to spoil ourselves for being far enough away and not noticing anyone trying to find us, we finally talked about what we were going to be doing next. Mostly because we both knew that tomorrow I was leaving. It was harder to look for us if we were not together.

“We should go to the magic store and see if they have any gate keys! Just one last contract we can watch the other gain before we go out there on our own.” Lucy piped up in excitement.

The smile on my face had way too many teeth showing, but I happily replied “I think that would be amazing! We might even get really lucky in what we find too!” The excitement was in no way faked, and as we fell asleep wrapped around each other like kittens, I did regret that I was leaving her just a little.

In the morning we were directed to the only magic shop in town. It was rather big, this being a good place for traveling mages to exchange wares before going into a few of the wilder parts of the country. It made sense that it had a good number of magical items and a varied selection as well.

Walking in we were glad to see that everything was organized just so as well. It took less than five minutes for us to find a section for magical keys. And there were more than just gate keys. There were ones that belonged to locks that could never be opened by another key but the one tuned to it. There were ones that created a small requip space in the physical world, and then there were Celestial Gate Keys.

And miracles among miracles, they had two keys. A golden zodiac of all things, and a silver key engraved with scales. It cost us a quarter of the jewel we were able to stash between the two of us, but I knew that it was worth it.

Finding a privet place after that was easy and I let Lucy go first. She took her stance and summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus. He came out, a humanoid cow man with a golden septum ring. There was a huge axe on his back and to top it all off it was very clear that he was a pervert within moments of him opening his mouth.

The laugh that came out of me was loud and long as Lucy frustratedly made it though the contract. It was his personality, so I knew that Lucy would never force him to change it, but at the same time it was going to be so annoying for her. But that was just going to be the price to pay for one of the zodiac, and I didn’t think that Lucy would really mind it. After all, she put up with the bitchy Aquarius. 

Then it was my turn after the bull left and we squealed over it for a moment. Of course I recognized the key. Taking my position, I called out the introduction to the first summoning, the formal part of it that only needed to be said before you made the contract and ended it with “Open, gate of the snake, Serpens!”

Before me the gate opened for a regular sized snake, maybe a foot and a half long, and inch wide at the largest, colored red and black and gold. It was striped, and as it hissed, I got the impression that it was another that didn’t speak with words. Not that I minded.

With a bright smile I negotiated the contract and found that the snake was a she, and she liked to be out and about. Alya was the name that she preferred, I knew this thanks to Phact, and her skills included lie detecting, magic detection and a mild paralytic venom from her fangs. I was given the invitation to call on her whenever so long as it was not cold enough for snow. That was her limit.

Of course, I agreed. It was such a simple limit to remember. Besides, I knew that snakes were cold blooded. It was probably horrible for them to be in the snow, and I never wanted to hurt or make my spirits uncomfortable.

With that done and with Alya curled around my neck to look out over the world, it was time. Time to leave on my own to find the hidden keys. And maybe to find my place in this world as well. To find where I might shine brightest.

Lucy and I separated with a hug and a promise that we would write to each other at the very least once a month. I was pretty sure that it was going to be more like every week though. Leaving the hotel, she went right to the train station and I went left to the forests. Neither of us looked back as we walked forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked that! Please let me know what you thought! I love hearing it.


	3. Traveling Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma begins her quest and makes a few new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is doing good! Things have been kind of crazy for me. Here is the next chapter!

There was something almost freeing about traveling by myself. With Pyxis and Lupus out with me I navigated the warn paths of the woods to get from one place to the next. There were no expectations out here, no one to tell me what to do or wear. No one to sell me off to the highest bidder without me getting the chance to punch them in the face for trying. Liberating was another way to describe it. 

I mean, Lucy and I had ditched the dresses as soon as we were out, but we had gone for different styles after that. My sister had opted for small shirts and miniskirts. Go her with the amount of confidence she had to do that. I, on the other hand, had decided that practicality mattered more on the journey that I was going on. I wore jeans and a practical shirt that didn’t hug my curves but had a wide collar that hung off of one side of my shoulder.

It was comfortable. And though bandits had been something that I had seen every once in a while, they were pansies and it was easy enough to just brush right past them and on towards the front. A mage is a bit more durable than a regular person. The use of magic strengthens us and makes it so that we usually heal faster than others do too.

But even if I was quick with a kick or a punch (actually I had grabbed a baton at the same place that Lucy had grabbed a whip, so I was hitting them with my metal stick), it was Lupus who usually scared them away. His growling was terrifying. And his teeth gleamed in any light it seemed.

Actually, it was interesting, I had passed by a group of mages who were talking about something that reminded me of one of the riddles. Now, I know that I was optimistic, but if one of the legendary keys were there, that would really be starting this adventure right. And I really thought it could be a possible answer.

It was in a tavern like inn I had stayed in for a night. The conversation was being had with two people from the same guild. They mentioned it too, Blue Pegasus. Not the guild that Lucy was shooting for, but it was pretty cool that the two were talking about the jobs that they had done.

He mentioned a place on Mt Hakobe where they had been hired to get enchanted ice from a mysterious cavern. They said that they had done it, but that the very ice had been trying to get them lost as it formed and reformed. I heard this and my mind immediately went to the legendary seven riddles that I had read.

I didn’t know the constellations that went with the keys. I didn’t even know what they looked like, but I had clues to where I might find them.

The clue it reminded me of went like this:

_Seek in the icy depth on high,_

_The one who teaches others to ascend,_

_Though the dangers will be nigh,_

_You must have faith once you descend._

_Peaks and caps, the maze always changing, decide if the risk is worth your time._

It was sketchy, the clue could be referring to something completely different. There was no real way to tell. But it was a lead, and I would be damned if I did not follow it for as far as I could. Even as it meant I was going to be going through that mountain and the cold looking for a single cave.

It would be worth it, even if I didn’t find anything. The only real problem that I saw was that it involved going to the mountain, and that was a trip that was going to take days at the very least. More than that, I didn’t actually have enough jewel to take the train there either and still get the warm clothes I would need, the supplies to take up there with me, and one of the enchanted pens that could cut through Hakube ice if I got trapped.

That was one thing that I knew I would need. Just in case. So once more I was on the road. By my side was Pyxis, making sure that I didn’t get lost, and Alya around my neck to make sure that I wouldn’t be trapped by any unseen magic. Really I didn’t expect her to find anything as I traveled because these parts didn’t have a problem with bandits. But it was nice to spend time with my spirits and having them out was good for building my magic.

There were many reasons that I had them all out as much as I could. And most of that was because I wanted to spend time with them, but a smaller reason was that it strengthened and deepened my magic reserves. Celestial Spirit Mages were judged by how many gates they can open at once. Sure, silver gates were not as impressive as golden ones, but I liked them just fine. And if I wanted to open the gates of legendary keys, I needed to keep growing my reserves the best way that I knew how. 

Walking the old path, I was stopped when I noticed something stalled on the side. A cart had turned over. From the boxes that had fallen all over the place it looked to be a food merchant. He was an older gentleman. Dark hair with silver streaking it, a face lined in wrinkles that showed both laughter, what must have been frown lines, sun spots from days of hard work, and eyes that looked kind to me. He had a walking stick that he also leaned heavily on to compensate for the false foot that he had uncovered.

“Are you alright, Mister?” I asked as I approached slowly. I was pretty sure that this wasn’t any nefarious, but he probably would be put on edge if I got too close too quickly.

Looking over as he patted the boar he had tethered to his cart, the man replied “Oh, hello there little miss. I’m afraid that I blew an axel over here. But not to worry, I’m sure that everything will be fine.” He then gave me a smile.

I smiled back as I was finally close enough to see that he really did snap an axel, the back one in fact. I considered my options for a moment, but then I figured that I might as well help him. It was something that I would have offered anyway, and I had the means to do something.

“I can help fix that for you,” I trailed off in my offering as I fingered my key for Lupus. It wasn’t something that was hard, but if he grew a new axel I was sure that I would be able to fix it to the cart. It wasn’t that hard of a thing to do.

The man’s eyebrows hiked up in surprise as he looked me over. Then he gave a nod. “I’m not one to say no to free help! What do you think you can do about this?” He asked as he gestured to the splintered snap in the wooden beam.

“Get a new one.” I answered honestly as I took out the silver key with the crescent moon teeth and howling wolf handle. I had the keys themselves in a pouch on my hip, hidden to make sure that they wouldn’t be spotted easily. Lupus was quick to form and as he towered over us the man didn’t seem too intimidated as he seemed impressed. “Can you grow a replacement beam? I’m trying to help him fix his cart.” I asked my spirit.

Looking over it the wolf nodded before closing his eyes for a moment and concentrating on the nature power within him. From the ground a beam of wood began to sprout. It wasn’t perfectly formed, and it didn’t come out very fast, but it was forming and I could feel the slight pull on my magic as he did it. It wasn’t anything deep or powerful, in fact the amount of magic was downright small all things considering, but I was memorizing the feeling of it.

“A Celestial Spirit Mage. It has been a while since I have encountered one.” He mused. And once the beam was finished and I had thanked my friend, we worked on prying the old one out and putting the new one in. And after that it was piling the goods back into the car and smoothing everything out.

“And there!” I said as I slotted in the last plank of wood into the back from where it had fallen out. Everything was in it’s place.

The man laughed kindly and said “You saved me a lot of time and jewel by helping me to fix that. Here, let me give you something for your kindness.”

I shook my head. “No, I couldn’t. I didn’t choose to help because of some reward.” I told him firmly.

“That is the reason you deserve one!” He enthused. Then from his pocket he took out three keys. “I see that you have a Pyxis key! It has been hard to find one of them and I think these three would love to work with one again. So here. Please, treat them kindly as you do your other spirits.”

My jaw dropped as I looked at the three. It was easy to see what they were. The keel, the stern, and the sail. Carina, Puppis, and Vela. Together they created the Argonaut. The ship to ferry heroes. And with a Pyxis at the wheel, it is said they can navigate to anywhere the summoner wanted to go.

“But surely you still have a contract with them?” I feebly denied. But my will for saying no was lessening with each second that they were being offered to me. It was just so tempting. To summon the Argonaut. To go anywhere. See anything.

The man laughed. “I am old and injured. My days of summoning have been long past. We have spoken, and I have been looking for a mage to offer them to. The clear love between you and your spirits, they would want that. I want that for them. The three love to travel, just promise me that you will do some of that before settling.”

Solemnly I vowed “I promise. Already I am on a quest. One I know will take me across Ishgar. We will see our share of new places.” It was an easy promise. Already off my tongue without hesitation. An easily kept one too.

I reached out and accepted the three keys. He then asked “Would you travel with me to the next town? I would love to see them gain new contracts.”

“Yes,” I agreed, not seeing an issue with allowing this request.

And we did. I contracted the spirits, learned of their magics, and agreed that the Argonaut was to be summoned at most twice a month for as long as I needed them or could keep the three or four gates open. I couldn’t wait for the first time I would summon it, though I knew that now wasn’t the right time. Stuff like that took time.

…

There was a city at the base of Mt Hakube that I stopped at for more information and for those supplies I would need. It was a cold place, so my serpent friend was not to be brought out. Not that I minded. At the moment I was looking at the newest letter that Lucy had sent me. I had sent her one right after getting the three keys from the man.

And now I was a bit sad that I never thought to ask his name. It was something that I should have kept to remember. But I suppose that it was too late now. At the moment I was now reading the letter that Phact had returned with.

_Emma,_

_That sounds amazing! The Argonaut. I must admit I find myself excited for you. I know that you have a goal to travel to as many places as you can. This is one way to do it! I myself found a new spirit as well! Horologium, the clock. I can summon him any time but only for an hour a day! He looks like the old grandfather clock that Mom had in her study. I remember I used to hide in it when it was Lupus’ turn to find us in hide and seek. And he said that I can hide in him too! It really is so exciting. And running a hand over his key, like you do with Phact, makes it so that I can tell what time it is!_

_I haven’t seen anything from dad either. I guess he just isn’t looking for us. Good riddance I suppose. And I guess now I understand why you wanted to travel separate. We both seem to be growing stronger by the day! But sometimes I think it is a little lonely._

_Next week I’m going to be going to Hargeon to see about getting to Magnolia. I’m almost there sister. I don’t know how to join a guild, but I will be in Fairy Tail. Did you hear about the forest that they destroyed last week? It was all over Sorcerers Weekly! And no one was hurt so the Magic Council isn’t going to be doing anything to them!_

_That must be freedom. And, well, I still do want that._

_I write to Mom every chance I get. Do you still think about her at random times. I looked at the sky and saw Jupiter close to the moon. That was one of the first planets she pointed out to us when we were star gazing. I cried right there and then._

_Sorry, I guess you might not want to talk about that._

_I love you so much, sister. And I hope that we will see each other soon enough. Grow strong and look to the stars! I know that when I look at them, somewhere out there, you are looking too!_

_All my love,_

_Lucy_

I smiled sadly as I finished reading. Yeah, I still thought about Mom, and dad. I hadn’t cried in a while, but there was a woman and her two boys out, and for a moment I saw us there instead. Just for a moment. It was enough that I was cuddling with half of my spirits while hidden in the tree line for an hour.

I guess that was grief. It was getting easier as the years went by, but some days were harder than others. Some days it hurt more, and others I would hardly think about it. It was always there, but that I could handle. She would have wanted us to be happy.

Folding up the letter, I put it in my backpack. There was a folder I had with all of the letters that she had sent me. And no doubt it would be full soon, but that was alright. So long as she kept in contact. Maybe one day I would get one of those magical containers that could hold more than it looked like. That would be nice.

Phact also brought me a trinket. She had been doing that a lot lately. I’m not sure where she got them, but it was usually something shiny. This time it was a coin of some sort with a hole through the middle. I was also pretty sure that it was made of tin even though it was painted gold in color. More things to help me remember my travels by. A physical reminder of the tidings brought to me.

Alright, that was enough reminiscing! I had the ice cutting pen, I had my climbing gear, I had enough food to last me a few weeks. I was as ready as I would ever be. Though, I would probably have to find a job or something for a little bit to make a bit more jewel so I could travel even more.

“You are really brave to be going through those mountains.” A woman said as I looked up to the highest peak that I could see and readied myself for the hike to come.

Turning, I saw a rather pretty brunet rocking a baby in her arms. Smiling, I answered “Not really. But I’m a mage, so I know that I can handle myself!”

She gave me a half smile, as if she knew something that I didn’t. “Just be careful stranger. We plan on sending a request latter this month to the guild for Vulcan removal. They seem to be getting rather brazen in their attacks recently.” She warned.

I nodded my head and pulsed my magic to bring my loyal wolf spirit to my side once more. He really did like being with me as I traveled as he didn’t want me to be in danger. It sucked when the full moon was out, but I made do. Usually I spent full moon days and nights in a town. Still, I was glad to have him. “I will be careful.” I assured her.

Taking that for what it was, she just nodded at me again and moved on. So did I. It was time to get to the top of that mountain! And I just had a feeling that it was going to be a long walk. Not only did she warn me about Vulcans, but I knew that Wyverns were up there too. The blizzard variety more commonly called Blizardverns.

But they were fine with you so long as you avoided their territory and didn’t touch the groves of healing herbs that they protected. Yes, I had done my research as much as I could before I even bought my new winter coat. It was a grey color to hopefully help me to blend in with the snow and rocks.

Excitement ran through me as I walked forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! I hope that you all liked it! I wanted to introduce some of the search as well as bring about a few constellations that will be very useful in the future!  
> If you have not caught on, most of the names that I am giving to the spirits are from a star in their constellation. I thought it would be a fun fact to share.   
> Please let me know what you thought!


	4. Labyrinth of Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Up on the mountain, Emma looks for the first legendary key.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has been so long! But I hope that you all like this!

The landscape was so monochrome and barren. Vast fields of pure undisturbed snow with gentile slopes were separated by almost sheer dark grey cliffs of rock leading higher. What life there was here was hidden out of sight or under snow.

A part of me thought that it was unnaturally beautiful. Pure and stark with the taste of danger and untouched for the most part by man. Only the howling of the wind provided commentary as I walked in silence.

Icy depths on high. Peaks and caps. Those were the lines that had me going to the highest point I could to start with. Though, the depths part had to referring to a cave of some sort. But it was the Dangers abound that had me worried. There was no telling what there was guarding the key.

The good news was that as I was going up I was passing by unmolested. Whatever was angering the Vulcans must have been further down the mountain. I saw none of them. Though, I had seen tracks that I knew would be a Blizardvern. The large back talons and the front hook like appendages on the wings left distinctive patterns in the snow where it passed.

That was largely avoided.

But what took my breath away was when I finally made it to the very top of the mountain. Looking out, I saw what felt like the world. Curling a hand around Phact’s key, I shared my view. The air was thin, and my head might have been a bit fuzzy, but the day was clear and I could see for hundreds of miles around.

I saw the dotting of cities and the spiderweb of roads were barely seeable. It was the farmland and forests that patched the landscape that was really seen. And looking over, I thought that perhaps for an instant I could see all the way to Seven. Maybe even to Bosco.

I felt the trills of agreement from the spirits about the awe-inspiring view. But I was on a mission! There was a reason to be here, on top of the world. And it was to see if this place offered the key that I was looking for.

Tearing myself away from the view I started looking for the cavern system closest to the top. Just getting up here had taken almost a week, and that was with the help of Lupus to clear larger sections nearer to the base. I had no doubt that actually finding a cave that might lead to where I needed to go would be just as hard.

Keeping positive, I started my decent from the top in a spiral pattern, hoping not to actually miss anything. It was about twenty feet from the top when I stumbled onto something. Quite literally. I sat down for a break to catch my breath and ended up falling into a cavern as the snow gave way.

I will admit, I screamed so loud that my own ears were ringing, but as I landed on my butt in the bottom, I looked up to watch a glowing blue ice form over the exit. Well, if that wasn’t a sign that this was the path I needed to go through, I wouldn’t know what was.

“I guess that the only way to go is forward.” I muttered to myself. Standing, I was almost relieved to see that there was nothing moving around me. Taking Pyxis’ key, I ran my magic through it just enough to give me light by which to travel by.

And travel I did, deeper into the dark cave that was covered in ice. It was not huge, but it was enough to let see a few feet around me. Though, it was strange, the deeper I went the more I felt as if there was something watching me from the shadows.

Those lurking dangers. It felt as if they had to be close now that the shadows were all around me. But I remembered that I had to keep faith. Faith in myself should I get attacked, faith that there really was something down here, and faith that what I was looking for was somewhere ahead.

So for hours on end I wandered the large twisting caverns, the silver light coming from my key lighting my way. The top felt as if it reached on into darkness above my head, even as I marched down further and further into the depths of the mountain. There was a point that I felt the hours might have turned into days.

But still, I walked forward.

Then, it was strange, I came to an open space within the tunnels. A place where the ceiling was embedded with sparking stones that cast light and there was a natural river from the snow melt that seemed to pool around a middle section. There was something at the center too. Something small sticking out from the rock at the center.

Wading through the water, I made my way up to it to see that it was something white and carved. Kneeling before it, I put Pyxis’ key away and recognized just what I was looking at. It was a key that was stuck in the ground. A key made of ivory. And this close I could see that the carving was a pair of antlers.

Grasping the end of the key, I wiggled it gently. Light seemed to emit from it, and with a twist of my wrist it seemed to come free as I pulled it the rest of the way out. The moment the ivory was no longer touching stone it stopped glowing and sat warmly in my hand.

My breath caught in my chest. This was a key made of neither silver or gold. An Ivory key. If that didn’t scream legendary, I didn’t know what did. And studying it, I finally understood what spirit it was connected to. The one who teaches others to ascend.

Every part of my being longed to summon this spirit right then and there. But I had been walking for days with a steady drain on my magic in the form of giving myself light by which to see. I didn’t know how much magic I would need for summoning this key. There was no point in exhausting myself completely. That would be a really bad impression.

So I got out food and my bed roll to sleep for a few hours first. This way I could be on the top of my magic.

…

Magic topped, I stood in the center of this chamber and I stood in my ready stance and felt for my magic for a moment. Then, pushing my magic into the key I called out “I am the path that connects with the celestial spirit world. Answer my calling and pass through the gate. Gate of the centaur, Centaurus!”

Magic poured out of my and into the key, the pressure in the air condensed and created a breeze that my free hair flailed in. With my bright magic circle twisting at my feet the sound of a knocker on a door sounded before I felt the gate open and something came through. The summoning had worked.

As light formed a being, I saw a figure much taller than me and even taller than Lupus, though not as hefty looking.

The body was the first thing that I noticed. It was not the boy of a human or a horse, but the body of a doe. A torso came out from the front and led to a more human appearance, as I had expected. The face was that of a woman. Though even then it was different. Her nose was large and flat, giving her the appearance of a snout. And her lips were set in a line to add to the deer like appearance. At the top of her head was a pair of delicate antlers ringed with gold and silver bands.

“You have summoned me, Mistress.” She spoke in a voice that seemed soft spoke, but with a spine of steel.

“Please, just call me Emma. And yes. I would be honored to make a contract with you.” I said as I bowed towards this spirit.

Her head tilted to the side for a moment and her eyes, large and so dark brown that it was hard to see where her pupil started, scrutinized me. “Good, you have respect. I look for that in a student. I am Chiron, and as your tutor I will train you in lost celestial magics. In return for my assistance I expect you to honor my teachings and learn as best you can. And before you ask, yes, you may call me for battle.”

I gulped slightly, this being new and exciting. A teacher for lost magics was something that very few people could boast. And in this I was not about to complain. Especially as she was offering so readily. “Are there any days you are not available? Or times that you need to be summoned?” I asked, wanting to cover all bases.

“I enjoy forests. For times I am not to be disturbed, I will tell you a week before if I want a day off. Is that agreeable?” She spoke seriously.

I nodded quickly. “That is more than generous. Thank you for agreeing!” I answered, beyond enthused. It was an open-ended contract. If she told me a week in advance that she needed time off, I would give it to her. But at the same time, she was clear in that she would be teaching me magic. So, in that she would have to be around me and allow me to summon her. And should I be traveling through forests; I got the hint that she would want to be out walking with me.

I was surprised that instead of returning to her world right away, she leaned in close and placed a kiss on the side of my face. Then there was a slight pinch and something solidified. When she pulled back, I reached up to feel that I now had a piercing under and to the left of my left eye, just on the ridge of my cheek bone. And I could feel that it was a solidified reminder of our contract. Later I would see that it was ivory, just like her key.

With a regal nod, she dissolved into stardust, going back through her door. The moment she did, I felt just how much her initial summoning had cost me, magic wise. My reserves were not empty, not by a long shot, but it was perhaps the most taxing spirit I had come across. It made me wonder if this was how it felt to summon one of the zodiac. But just as I thought that I shook it out of my head. There was really no use in thinking like that.

Instead I brought out Pyxis all the way and asked to find a way out. It took a while, and that feeling of always being watched followed me. I made no move to acknowledge that I knew something was there, except for the fact that my head twitched to look for the source.

Finally, Pyxis found a place that was blocked off by a wall of ice. Hakube ice if ever I saw it. I carefully cut away a hole to go though, setting the cut out to the side as I did so. Whatever was watching seemed to thicken the air as I did, but I was so close.

Sure enough, as I reached to pull myself through the hole, something came out and slammed into my side, pushing me away from the exit I had made.

I gasped as I hit the wall and slid down. Looking into the slightly enlightened darkness, the white refraction of light of the show outside of the hole I just made had made it so that I could see a bit, I saw a blue mass of tentacles. It was some form of monster, a guardian that I had never seen before.

And I had all of two combat spirits. That right there was probably something of an oversight. And I was just too drained to ask for Chiron’s help right here. Lupus would also probably do next to nothing against something as big as this.

“Pyxis, go back!” I warned my navigation spirit as I brought out my baton and started to think my way out of this.

The creature had not attacked until I had made the move to leave. But now that it had, well the writhing body that I could see of it was concerning. I figured that it was probably going to try and eat me at this point. Perhaps it was a hunter of opportunity. Only eating that which gets trapped in its caves and starves or freezes. Maybe it was even the guardian and it was there to stop me from taking the key I had found outside of this mountain.

But I could not give up. Not after finding out that I was on the right path, that I really was going to be able to find the legendary keys. In moments I came up with a rudimentary plan. It wasn’t good by any means, but it would get the job done.

“Open, gate of the wolf, Lupus!” I called out as I waved his key through the air. Then I said quickly “Distract it. I just need to get out of the cave and then we are free! I need you to try and keep its attention and the moment that I am through the hole, you can dismiss yourself! I don’t think this warrants getting hurt over.”

The wolf grinned with all of his teeth before huffing and rushing the creature. He made noise and snapped at the appendages that came towards him, and that had the focus of it. As he did that, I waited only a moment, but the moment I saw it pull back I sprinted towards the hole that I made and dived forward into a roll.

On my feet, I got five steps before I felt my companion dismiss himself. Not that I let that stop my running. As soon as I was out of the caves, I saw that I was actually almost half way down the mountain. With the adrenaline from the attack, I was not going to stop running until I reached the summit. Or, that was what I told myself.

It was actually really nice to be breathing in the air so cold that it burned my lungs slightly and to be blinded by the light reflected off of the snow. Elation was something that I was feeling a lot of too. This was just amazing and I was so excited.

I couldn’t wait to write my next letter to Lucy. While she didn’t know everything, I knew that she did suspect that my quest had something to do with rare keys. The fact that no one knew what the Centaurus key had even looked like meant that she would be happy to gush with me over how awesome this accomplishment was.

Not that I was going to tell her about our contract. She wouldn’t ask me about it either. It was just that sometimes it was nice to tell someone what was going on in your life. Lucy was my only confidant besides my spirits. I knew that whatever I shared with her would be something that she appreciated.

Swiping those thoughts from out of my mind, I acknowledged that it had been a while since I had been able to send her a letter. Not outside of our promised time line, but long enough that she might start to worry. Writing to her was going to be the first thing I did after a nights sleep in a heated house and perhaps a bubble bath.

In the couple of days that it took me to get down the mountain, it was getting harder to ward off the chill of the ice and the wind. To the point that I was wondering if I would ever feel warm again. I knew that was an exaggeration, but that did not stop me from kissing the dirt the moment I had descended enough that the actual ground could be seen.

Sure, I could have probably cut that travel time by an hour if I had used the Argonaut, but my first voyage in the ship was going to be special. I would have nothing less for my maiden voyage. And besides, it would have taken me a day to make sure I had the reserves to pull out four of my spirits at once anyway.

Better to wait for the right time when I was freshly rested.

The inn at the town I had left from seemed to remember me as I walked in. This time I had more than one thing that I needed from it as well.

The good thing about small towns that people pass through is that the smaller jobs that people don’t want to contact the guilds about were usually posted in the inns and taverns of the town for passing mages to take for jewel. You would never find something with a very large reward, but it was enough for the independent mage to survive off of. And that would be my next goal!

### A Shadow Of Hunger

Deep in the heart of a long-forgotten temple a crack shattered the silence and brought the birds near by flying through the air. Along the stone slab that qualified as a floor for the temple was a clean split delving deep into the ground. Through said crack, a shadow slithered out.

It slithered through the underbrush and along the dirt ground for miles on miles before it found a village. The village itself was small, a farming village that grew rare healing herbs to sell to their wealthy clients. And on the edge of the town, working the fields as he was bid, there was a boy.

The boy had no magic of his own. No one here did. In fact, it was perhaps a once in a decade thing to see a mage pass through this area on their way to where ever it was they were going. And thus, there was no way for him to know of the shadow that chose him, and no way to fight it off as it came to him.

With a vicious laugh the shadow engulfed the boy, ripped out the soul, and took the place of it. There were a few sickening cracks from the joints of the boy as the new being in charge learned to use the body. But once that was a done a smile stretched across the face. A smile too big and holding too many sharpened teeth to have belonged to a human.

“Time to eat,” it said as its tongue elongated and licked its lips. Turning, the body that once belonged to the little farmer boy headed back to the village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought!


End file.
